Power modules are used in a vast array of electronics applications, and are used in order to supply users external or internal to the power module with a regulated power (voltage/current) feed. The regulated power feed is created by the power module using an input power feed to the power module, which the power module is arranged to convert to one or more regulated output power feeds, which is then supplied to said users.
The regulated power feed is usually a DC feed, as is also usually the case with the input power feed to the power module, in which case the power module is a DC/DC power module. However, a power module can also be an AC/AC power module, or DC/AC, as well as AC/DC.
A power module usually comprises a supporting substrate, e.g. a PCB of some kind, with one or more components arranged on the supporting substrate. As mentioned, power modules are used in a large amount of applications and occupy a certain volume, which thus adds to the height and/or width of the total design. Since this is not desirable, power components as such are instead often integrated in the design as such, i.e. on PCBs which are also used for other purposes. Such solutions are then “tailor-made” for each specific design or application, which naturally is not efficient with regards to such resources as design and verification.